Description: MED4PEST aims to develop proven, effective Ecologically Based Rodent Management (EBRM) methods and products, which are readily integrated into local pest /invasive rodent management systems in Mediterranean countries, contributing to the shift from synthetic pest control to biological and ecological pest management, ultimately leading to eco-sustainable farming systems, higher quality and quantity crop production and optimization of input use for ecosystem health. MED4PEST objectives and goals will produce new knowledge through scientific research that will be pursued with the collaborative research of the consortium partners from 2 Universities, 2 Research Institutes, and one company.

The high-level objectives of the project are the following:

1. Improve knowledge and understanding of rodent behaviour and magnitude of damage caused in representative agroecological systems in the Mediterranean region.
2. Improved Ecologically-Based Rodent Management (EBRM) approach, methods and application in Mediterranean region. It entails developing an array of EBRM methods tailored to a spectrum of representative agroecological systems in the Mediterranean region, by and for a team of stakeholders (farmers, practitioners, private sector, government).
3. Novel plant-based bio-rodenticide (BR) development and testing in lab and field. The BR will fill the void where synthetic rodenticides are no longer effective, while alternatives are not yet developed. A BR is a game-changer in the field of rodenticides and presents a necessary addition to the Integrated Pest Management package for smallscale farmers.

Techniques used: Pervasive computing, Internet of Things, Computer Vision, Deep learning, GIS and geospatial analysis, Machine Learning, Open hardware..

Collaboration with: MetaMetaAnatolia, National Institute of Agricultural Research of Morocco (INRA), Mohammed V University of Rabat (MVUR), Hellenic Mediterranean University (HMU), MetaMeta Research B.V.

Started: June 2022

Status: Finished

Publications:
Chirag Padubidri, Ioannis Louloudakis, Ioannis Daliakopoulos, Sukru Esin, and Andreas Kamilaris, SPYCE: A Multi-Modal Rodent Monitoring Device for Enhanced Detection, Monitoring, and Behavior Analysis, EGU General Assembly, vol. 2025, no. EGU25-13702, Vienna, Austria, April 2025. [Abstract] [Poster]

Outputs: Open-source code, 3D schematics and electronics' diagrams

Official Project Website: https://med4pest.org

Funding: MED4PEST is funded by Prima Foundation (Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area), it is coordinated by MetaMeta Anatolia.